Review: Trans-forming beef to provide healthier fatty acid profiles

[EN]Trans fatty acids are found naturally in foods, particularly in those derived from ruminant animals, such as beef and dairy cattle. Over the past few decades, human consumption of trans fatty acids has increased, but this has been mainly from products containing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. The correlation of trans fatty acid consumption with diseases such as coronary heart disease has been cause for concern, and led to recommendations to reduce their consumption. Trans fatty acids, however, have differing effects on human health. Therefore, in foods produced from ruminant animals, it is important to know their trans fatty acid composition, and how to enrich or deplete fatty acids that have positive or negative health effects. This review will cover the analysis of trans fatty acids in beef, their origin, how to manipulate their concentrations, and give a brief overview of their health effects.

Monitorización avanzada en el posoperatorio de las cardiopatías congénitas : motorización hemodinámica avanzada en el posoperatorio de cardiopatías congénitas mediante termodilución transpulmonar y espectroscopia cercana al infrarrojo

196 p. : graf.

Role of G protein coupled inwardly rectifier K+ channels (GIRK) on the neurobiology depression

353 págs.

Social, economic, and health impact of the respiratory syncytial virus: a systematic search

Background: Bronchiolitis caused by the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and its related complications are common in infants born prematurely, with severe congenital heart disease, or bronchopulmonary dysplasia, as well as in immunosuppressed infants. There is a rich literature on the different aspects of RSV infection with a focus, for the most part, on specific risk populations. However, there is a need for a systematic global analysis of the impact of RSV infection in terms of use of resources and health impact on both children and adults. With this aim, we performed a systematic search of scientific evidence on the social, economic, and health impact of RSV infection. Methods: A systematic search of the following databases was performed: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Spanish Medical Index, MEDES-MEDicina in Spanish, Cochrane Plus Library, and Google without time limits. We selected 421 abstracts based on the 6,598 articles identified. From these abstracts, 4 RSV experts selected the most relevant articles. They selected 65 articles. After reading the full articles, 23 of their references were also selected. Finally, one more article found through a literature information alert system was included. Results: The information collected was summarized and organized into the following topics: 1. Impact on health (infections and respiratory complications, mid-to long-term lung function decline, recurrent wheezing, asthma, other complications such as otitis and rhino-conjunctivitis, and mortality; 2. Impact on resources (visits to primary care and specialists offices, emergency room visits, hospital admissions, ICU admissions, diagnostic tests, and treatments); 3. Impact on costs (direct and indirect costs); 4. Impact on quality of life; and 5. Strategies to reduce the impact (interventions on social and hygienic factors and prophylactic treatments). Conclusions: We concluded that 1. The health impact of RSV infection is relevant and goes beyond the acute episode phase; 2. The health impact of RSV infection on children is much better documented than the impact on adults; 3. Further research is needed on mid-and long-term impact of RSV infection on the adult population, especially those at high-risk; 4. There is a need for interventions aimed at reducing the impact of RSV infection by targeting health education, information, and prophylaxis in high-risk populations.

The prevalence of diabetes-related complications and multimorbidity in the population with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Basque Country

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with a diverse range of pathologies. The aim of the study was to determine the incidence of diabetes-related complications, the prevalence of coexistent chronic conditions and to report multimorbidity in people with type 2 diabetes living in the Basque Country. Methods: Administrative databases, in four cross sections (annually from 2007 to 2011) were consulted to analyse 149,015 individual records from patients aged >= 35 years with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The data observed were: age, sex, diabetes-related complications (annual rates of acute myocardial infarction, major amputations and avoidable hospitalisations), diabetes-related pathologies (prevalence of ischaemic heart disease, renal failure, stroke, heart failure, peripheral neuropathy, foot ulcers and diabetic retinopathy) and other unrelated pathologies (44 diseases). Results: The annual incidence for each condition progressively decreased during the four-year period: acute myocardial infarction (0.47 to 0.40%), major amputations (0.10 to 0.08%), and avoidable hospitalisations (5.85 to 5.5%). The prevalence for diabetes-related chronic pathologies was: ischaemic heart disease (11.5%), renal failure (8.4%), stroke (7.0%), heart failure (4.3%), peripheral neuropathy (1.3%), foot ulcers (2.0%) and diabetic retinopathy (7.2%). The prevalence of multimorbidity was 90.4%. The highest prevalence for other chronic conditions was 73.7% for hypertension, 13.8% for dyspepsia and 12.7% for anxiety. Conclusions: In the type 2 diabetes mellitus population living in the Basque Country, incidence rates of diabetes complications are not as high as in other places. However, they present a high prevalence of diabetes related and unrelated diseases. Multimorbidity is very common in this group, and is a factor to be taken into account to ensure correct clinical management.

Human LDL Structural Diversity Studied by IR Spectroscopy

Lipoproteins are responsible for cholesterol traffic in humans. Low density lipoprotein (LDL) delivers cholesterol from liver to peripheral tissues. A misleading delivery can lead to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. LDL has a single protein, apoB-100, that binds to a specific receptor. It is known that the failure associated with a deficient protein-receptor binding leads to plaque formation. ApoB-100 is a large single lipid-associated polypeptide difficulting the study of its structure. IR spectroscopy is a technique suitable to follow the different conformational changes produced in apoB-100 because it is not affected by the size of the protein or the turbidity of the sample. We have analyzed LDL spectra of different individuals and shown that, even if there are not big structural changes, a different pattern in the intensity of the band located around 1617 cm 21 related with strands embedded in the lipid monolayer, can be associated with a different conformational rearrangement that could affect to a protein interacting region with the receptor.